1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tubular knitted fabric for clothing and legwear having a plurality of stitches knitted to obtain desired patterns by a circular knitting machine.
2. Related Background Art
The preferences of individuals have been diversified in recent years as the information and technologies have grown more diverse. Highly fashionable garments are required as one of the ways to express one's individuality. One of the important requirements to provide a highly fashionable knit garment is to represent (obtain) the appearance of the knit garment, such as the delicate and beautiful patterns on the surface of the knit garment, as well as the entire shape of the knit garment.
Examples of conventional methods for representing a pattern of a knit garment include a method using cut-boss (color in color) patterns (“a method for selectively inserting a yarn (pattern yarn) different than a knitting yarn”), a method using mesh knitting or tuck knitting (a method using a change in a knitted structure), and a method for representing patterns by means of embroidery.
However, the problems involved in “a method for selectively inserting a yarn (pattern yarn) different than a knitting yarn” are such that an end of a cut pattern region becomes exposed on the surface, detracting from the appearance or quality of the knit garment and making the knit garment uncomfortable to wear, that the raw materials of the cut end becomes a waste, inhibiting the conservation of the natural resources, reducing the production efficiency and increasing the costs, that yarns that are not used for stitching inhibit the horizontal stretching linearly over the course directions on the rear surface of the fabric, and that no patterns can be inserted in a region knitted by a reciprocal rotation.
A problem involved in “a method using a change in a knitted structure” is such that it is difficult to produce a product conforming with a purpose due to the direct impact of the knitted structure on the thickness of the fabric (a mesh stitch part is thin but a tuck stitch part is thick). Because at least two courses are required in order to construct at least one of such a knitted structure, delicate patterns cannot be represented.
Problems in embroidery are such that an embroidered part cannot stretch, providing a wearer with excessive tightness, that the embroidered part is hard and hence provides irritates the wearer's skin when contacting the skin, and that the high yarn cost and the large number of knitting steps increase the costs.
In addition to the above-described method for representing a pattern, there is a method for representing a pattern by using the shading of the knitted fabric that is generated by controlling the size of a stitch (stitch density) (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-195104, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-302853, for example). Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-195104 discloses “a method using the activation of a stitch cam,” and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-302853 discloses a method “for changing a feeding tension applied to a knitting yarn.”
In the pantyhose disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-195104, stitch parts that have at least two different stitch lengths in the same course are formed in at least a part of a foot part in order to provide a contact pressure difference in a weft direction, and the stitch parts with different stitch lengths form a pattern. This pantyhose is produced by using a circular knitting machine that has a device capable of changing the stitch lengths in the same course by moving a knitting cam vertically.
The patterned knitted fabric disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-302853 has a pattern that is configured by parts with different loop lengths that are obtained by changing a feeding tension applied to a knitting yarn fed from a yarn guide to a knitting needle.
The effects obtained by controlling the sizes of stitches include the ones described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-316000.
In the stitch knitting method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-316000, a circular knitting machine forms large stitches and small stitches in a knitting texture of the same course without changing how much a knitting needle is pulled in by a stitch cam.
However, according to the technology described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-195104 (“a method using the activation of a stitch cam”), the activation of the stitch cam cannot be applied accurately in units of one stitch (one needle). For this reason, the stitch density cannot be controlled precisely in units of one stitch. As a result, vivid (detailed) patterns cannot be formed. In addition, because a region knitted by a reciprocal rotary movement cannot control the stitch density, a pattern obtained by controlling the stitch density cannot be inserted into the region, limiting the fashion of the pantyhose.
Because the technology described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-302853 (“a method for changing a feeding tension applied to a knitting yarn”) focuses primarily on representing a gradational pattern by gradually changing the stitch density, the clear shading of the knitted fabric cannot be obtained in units of one stitch, and consequently a complicated pattern cannot be represented vividly.
The main purpose of the technology described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-316000 is to prevent a pattern yarn from being removed (prevent it from being exposed on the surface), by reducing the sizes of the stitches in the end part having a cut-boss pattern (the beginning/ending of the pattern in each course). However, this technology does not take into consideration how to obtain the pattern by controlling the stitch density.